I have never seen a used flywheel that did not have chewed up teeth on it.
Each time you shut the motor off, it stops in approximately the same position. The starter gear engages the flyweel gear in approximately the same place each time, wearing away the teeth on the flyweel ring gear. It takes hundreds of starts, maybe thousands, before it wears out the ring gear completely.
What I described above is normal wear and tear.
If you have a low battery, bad connections, wornout starter motor or starter clutch (some call it a Bendix), the wear can increase or even start causing the clutch to stick into the ring gear, or not engage at all. Also, a faulty MPEM ( some 1998 951 models) can cause them to break teeth off of the clutches or break splines on the starter motor itself.
Sea Doo uses two types of starters and starter clutches. One has a simple clutch, about $85.00 (clutch only) new, or starter motor and clutch, new about $285.00. These are in all models except the 951 powered watercraft.
The other is the type of starter motor used by most manufactorers of pwc's. The motor is seperate from the clutch, and costs about $250. The clutch is a more complicated type of clutch, and it sits in the mag housing and is independant of the starter motor which has splines that slip into the clutch when you install the starter motor. This type clutch cost about $185.00, and is installed from the front of the motor, under the mag cover. It comes in all 951 powered watercraft from Sea Doo.
When gear teeth break off, the starter will sometimes try to engage, but will not engage the clutch teeth correctly. It may just kick back out, or it may just spin freely. If this is the case, some teeth may be allready broken off and moving around in the mag housing. If you continue to keep depressing the start button, it may eventually catch and start, but those broken teeth can cause major damages and expenses to the flywheel magneto, pickup and stator.
If your starter is acting up, fix it before you really do some damage to the magneto parts. The difference will cost you anoyher $600.00 or so, over and above the price to repair/replace the stater motor or clutch.
DO NOT ASSUME IT WILL FIX ITSELF.
HERE IS A TIP. USE OEM STARTER MOTORS. NOT ONE AFTERMARKET STARTER MOTOR IS WORTH THE TIME TO INSTALL IT, IMO.
This is not a place to try and save some money, unless, like a used car dealer, you will be selling the pwc without ever trying to use it again yourself. I do not know why any of the aftermarket starter manufactors cannot make a decent starter motor, but so far, they haven't. Every time I try one, I end up doing the job twice and buying another starter motor after a very short lifespan of the aftermarket starter motor.
I have gotten to the point that if my customers want an aftermarket or used starter installed, I send them to another jetski shop. I have eaten the labor too many times, and even though I warn them, I'm still "the bad guy" when it fails, and it will fail.
Starters can be a pain for me. Just yesterday, a customer came in all upset that his starter failed when they went to the lake over the weekend. He demanded that I fix it for free.
Here is the deal. He brings me two of the most wornout old 1989 SP's that I have ever seen. One with a locked up motor. He pays me to rob the starter motor out of the bad one to install into the other. I do it. I also installed a new battery because his was junk. The robbed starter motor seems to work fine and engages good and starts the motor with each depression of the button. I show him that it works when he picks up the ski after complaining about the price of a new battery. He goes to the lake and it won't start, the clutch will not engage. Now he wants me to do the job again for free, and he wants me to buy the parts. He claims I must have screwed up the installation...... Yeah right.
Each time you shut the motor off, it stops in approximately the same position. The starter gear engages the flyweel gear in approximately the same place each time, wearing away the teeth on the flyweel ring gear. It takes hundreds of starts, maybe thousands, before it wears out the ring gear completely.
What I described above is normal wear and tear.
If you have a low battery, bad connections, wornout starter motor or starter clutch (some call it a Bendix), the wear can increase or even start causing the clutch to stick into the ring gear, or not engage at all. Also, a faulty MPEM ( some 1998 951 models) can cause them to break teeth off of the clutches or break splines on the starter motor itself.
Sea Doo uses two types of starters and starter clutches. One has a simple clutch, about $85.00 (clutch only) new, or starter motor and clutch, new about $285.00. These are in all models except the 951 powered watercraft.
The other is the type of starter motor used by most manufactorers of pwc's. The motor is seperate from the clutch, and costs about $250. The clutch is a more complicated type of clutch, and it sits in the mag housing and is independant of the starter motor which has splines that slip into the clutch when you install the starter motor. This type clutch cost about $185.00, and is installed from the front of the motor, under the mag cover. It comes in all 951 powered watercraft from Sea Doo.
When gear teeth break off, the starter will sometimes try to engage, but will not engage the clutch teeth correctly. It may just kick back out, or it may just spin freely. If this is the case, some teeth may be allready broken off and moving around in the mag housing. If you continue to keep depressing the start button, it may eventually catch and start, but those broken teeth can cause major damages and expenses to the flywheel magneto, pickup and stator.
If your starter is acting up, fix it before you really do some damage to the magneto parts. The difference will cost you anoyher $600.00 or so, over and above the price to repair/replace the stater motor or clutch.
DO NOT ASSUME IT WILL FIX ITSELF.
HERE IS A TIP. USE OEM STARTER MOTORS. NOT ONE AFTERMARKET STARTER MOTOR IS WORTH THE TIME TO INSTALL IT, IMO.
This is not a place to try and save some money, unless, like a used car dealer, you will be selling the pwc without ever trying to use it again yourself. I do not know why any of the aftermarket starter manufactors cannot make a decent starter motor, but so far, they haven't. Every time I try one, I end up doing the job twice and buying another starter motor after a very short lifespan of the aftermarket starter motor.
I have gotten to the point that if my customers want an aftermarket or used starter installed, I send them to another jetski shop. I have eaten the labor too many times, and even though I warn them, I'm still "the bad guy" when it fails, and it will fail.
Starters can be a pain for me. Just yesterday, a customer came in all upset that his starter failed when they went to the lake over the weekend. He demanded that I fix it for free.
Here is the deal. He brings me two of the most wornout old 1989 SP's that I have ever seen. One with a locked up motor. He pays me to rob the starter motor out of the bad one to install into the other. I do it. I also installed a new battery because his was junk. The robbed starter motor seems to work fine and engages good and starts the motor with each depression of the button. I show him that it works when he picks up the ski after complaining about the price of a new battery. He goes to the lake and it won't start, the clutch will not engage. Now he wants me to do the job again for free, and he wants me to buy the parts. He claims I must have screwed up the installation...... Yeah right.
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